The Ability to Plan and the Contribution of Social Capital

Anand, Paul; Poggi, Ambra (2014). 'The Ability to Plan and the Contribution of Social Capital' Paper presented at the annual conference of the HDCA, 2-5 September 2014, Athens, Greece.

The paper explores connections between the ability to plan for the future and a person's level of individual social capital. Using a unique data set for Italian adults developed in 2012, we apply a stochastic frontier approach to control for possible bias and find the following. First, the ability to plan for the future is positively associated with individual social capital (network and social supports; social opportunities; trust). Second, the role of individual social capital varies depending on an individual's economic status. Third, some individuals are only partially able to convert resources into an ability to plan for the future as this ability depends inter alia on local unemployment rates and individuals feelings. The paper concludes that different socio-economic groups within society benefit differentially from different aspects of social capital and that potentially, the benefit most from living in neighbourhoods where trust is high.

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